''Lady Jane Dundas'' was launched in 1800 as an

East Indiaman East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belonging to the Bri ...

. She made four voyages for the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

(EIC) and was lost in 1809 on the homeward-bound leg of her fifth voyage. She and three other Indiamen parted from the homeward-bound convoy during a gale on 18 March 1809 and were never seen again.

Career

EIC voyage #1 (1800–1801)

Captain the Hon. Hugh Lindsay acquired a

letter of marque A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...

on 10 April 1800. He sailed from Torbay on 27 May 1800, bound for Bengal. ''Lady Jane Dundas'' reached Acheh on 4 November and arrived at

Kedgeree Kedgeree (or occasionally ) is a dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish (traditionally smoked haddock), boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, lemon juice, salt, butter or cream, and occasionally sultanas. The dish can be eat ...

on 6 December. Homeward bound, she was at

Saugor Sagar, formerly Saugor, is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sagar district of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India. It's Madhya Pradesh's 6th largest city of by Population. The city is situated on a ...

on 24 January 1801, reached

St Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

on 21 May and

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

on 24 July, and arrived at The Downs on 11 August.

EIC voyage #2 (1802–1803)

Captain Lindsay sailed from Portsmouth on 27 February 1802, bound for

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

and Bengal. ''Lady Jane Dundas'' reached Madras on 25 June and arrived at

Diamond Harbour Diamond Harbour is a town and municipality located in the South 24 Parganas district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River, it serves as the administrative headquarters of the Diamond Harbour su ...

on 13 July. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 22 October. She and left Bengal on 28 December and reached St Helena together. They reached St Helena on 3 March 1803, and arrived at The Downs on 5 May.

EIC voyage #3 (1804–1805)

War with France had resumed in 1803 and Captain Lindsay acquired a letter of marque on 26 January 1804. He sailed from Portsmouth on 20 March 1804, bound for Madras and Bengal in a convoy under the escort of The other East Indiamen in the convoy were , , , , , , and . ''Lady Jane Dundas'' reached Madras on 18 July and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 13 August. She was at

Kidderpore Khidirpur or Kidderpore is a neighbourhood of Kolkata, South Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. Etymology Most plausibly, the name is a corruption of ''Khidrpur'' or ''Khizarpur' ...

on 23 September. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 22 November and Madrasa again on 12 February 1805. She reached St Helena on 20 June, and arrived at The Downs on 10 September.

EIC voyage #4 (1806–1807)

Captain Lindsay sailed from Portsmouth on 4 March 1806, bound for Madras and Bengal. ''Lady Jane Dundas'' reached Madras on 28 June and arrived at Diamond Harbour on 10 July. She was at Saugor on 12 September, visited Penang on 18 October and returned to Bengal, arriving at Kedgeree on 13 December. Homeward bound, she was at Saugor on 30 January 1807, reached St Helena on 13 June, and arrived at The Downs on 6 September.

Loss

Captain John Eckford acquired a letter of marque on 12 February 1808. He sailed from Portsmouth on 8 May 1808, bound for Madras and Bengal. On 14 March 1809, ''Lady Jane Dundas'', , , and parted company with the main convoy of homeward-bound East Indiamen off Mauritius in a gale. was the last vessel to see ''Jane, Duchess of Gordon'' and ''Lady Jane Dundas''; was the last vessel to see ''Bengal'' and ''Calcutta''.''Naval Chronicle'', Vol. 26, p.218. They were never heard of again. The hull of one of the four missing vessels was sighted overturned off Mauritius the following October, but sank before it could be identified. The EIC valued the cargo it lost on ''Lady Jane Dundas'' at £36,808.

Citations

References

* * {{1809 shipwrecks 1800 ships Ships built on the River Thames Age of Sail merchant ships of England Ships of the British East India Company Maritime incidents in 1809 Missing ships Ships lost with all hands Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean